Modi may reply to debate on President speech only in RS

NEW DELHI: With Opposition protests showing no sign of relenting in the Lok Sabha, the ongoing budget session could mark a new event in India’s parliamentary history — the Prime Minister replying to the debate on the President’s speech only in the Upper House.

Prime Ministers have not participated in the debate on the President’s address in the Lower House only twice — in 1999 and 2009. But on both occasions, the PMs —Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the first instance and Manmohan Singh in the second — didn’t speak in the Rajya Sabha either.

In 1999, then deputy PM LK Advani replied to the motion of thanks on the President’s speech in the Lok Sabha and Union minister Jaswant Singh, the leader of the Rajya Sabha, spoke in the Upper House. In 2009, Union minister and leader of Lok Sabha Pranab Mukherjee replied in both Houses. There are, however, four instances of the PM not addressing the

Upper House but speaking only in the LS.

The Lok Sabha is yet to approve the motion on the President’s speech, a signal that the government is still hopeful of ending this impasse. Prime Minister Modi was scheduled to reply in the Lok Sabha on Friday, but disruptions washed out three consecutive days of proceedings. Now, the PM is scheduled to speak in the Rajya Sabha at 10.30 am on Monday, and if he does, it will be uncharted territory in India’s parliamentary history.

To be sure, there is still a chance that the PM may not speak in the Rajya Sabha and get a senior

Union minister, such as Rajnath Singh, to address the RS instead.

A senior Congress and a Trinamool leader said they “might walk out of the Rajya Sabha during the PM’s reply”. They both asked not to be named. Another Opposition leader in the Rajya Sabha said that “protests and disruptions will return in the Rajya Sabha if the PM says nothing substantial on the farmers’ issues”.

A senior minister said, “Talks are not yet over with the Opposition. That’s why we have delayed seeking the Lok Sabha’s approval for the motion on the President speech. If there is an agreement, we can still discuss the speech in the next week.”

The opposition parties are, meanwhile, looking to recalibrate their Lok Sabha tactics next week. A meeting of more than 17 opposition parties will be called on Monday to review their strategy in the Lower House and to take a call on whether the Opposition will continue to disrupt through the budget debate too, or allow the debate on general budget to continue.

Some non-Congress parties are keen to participate in the budget debate as it will be the last major debate in Parliament before the assembly elections in April-May. “We are hopeful that a solution would be arrived at. Let’s see.”

Some Opposition parties have not ruled out the possibility of resuming the Presidential debate in the LS next week. “But for that, the Congress needs to recalibrate its stand,” said a non-UPA leader.

On Friday, too, LS Speaker Om Birla continued discussions with different parties but the logjam persisted as the government emissaries remained non-committal on the demand to allow an exclusive discussion on farm issues before the budget debate.

Former secretary general P Sreedharan said, “Usually, such an impasse is resolved at a higher level and not in discussions with floor leaders. It is unfortunate that the PM was not given a chance to speak on the President’s speech. But there’s still hope as the motion on the speech has not been approved in the LS yet.”

Narendra Modi